


Getting Along and Getting Used (to Family)

by AshRain



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Feelings of guilt, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Isolation, Swearing, sides as family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:49:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23247304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshRain/pseuds/AshRain
Summary: Roman is getting used to his new family. Here are two instances that made him think that he ruined everything he has managed to build with them.
Relationships: Platonic Sides, including dark sides
Comments: 3
Kudos: 44





	Getting Along and Getting Used (to Family)

Roman was Creativity. Before, he was Creativity but he wasn’t Roman. Back then he was… well he doesn’t really remember. He doesn’t remember much from before he was Roman. He knows there was Creativity and then there were Roman and Remus and they were both Creativity.

And then his family split and his brother was torn away from him. He stayed with Morality and Logic and they became the Light Sides while Remus joined the Dark Sides. Roman had, at that point only really cared about Remus.

Sure he knew Deceit and Anxiety but they were minor nuisances more than anything. He didn’t interact with them much.

And as time passed, he and Remus grew more and more apart. Remus’ ideas became more and more absurd and disturbing until Roman was almost scared of his brother. So Roman avoided Remus just as much as he avoided Deceit and Anxiety.

All this changed however, when Anxiety became Virgil and opened the door between the Dark and Light sides. Sure they played up the beef for Thomas’ videos but there were some tensions they had to work out.

It took time but _Logan and Patton and Roman _became _Logan and Patton and Roman and Virgil which soon became _Deceit and Logan and Patton and Remus and Roman and Virgil _._____

_____ _

They started to work together and grew closer until they were a family again. Sure, they had been a family before but that was just the Light Sides and the Dark Sides separately.

_____ _

Roman has always been protective of his family and now his family was double the size it used to be, which means there are three more people he has to protect and it’s so unfamiliar. 

_____ _

He usually had to protect Patton of stray spiders or his own clumsiness and he made sure Logan didn’t overwork himself too much and provided plenty of Crofters jam for the logical side.

_____ _

Now he provided safe heating opportunities for Deceit since Remus’ creations could be volatile if he didn’t focus on them perfectly, which was hard for the Other Creativity.

_____ _

He acted as a rubber duck for Remus so he could share his ideas in a healthy, productive way instead of bottling it up and ending up with Thomas losing sleep.

_____ _

He distracted Virgil from his worries and came up with new fidget toys for him.

_____ _

With all three of the previous Dark Sides, he made an effort to include them more in day to day life.

_____ _

Logan and Patton regularly joined him on his tamer adventures in the Imagination and he was happy to see that Deceit, Remus and Virgil seemed interested in joining him as well though they were hesitant to join with Patton and Logan as well.

_____ _

Roman understood that. They had lived on their own for years, almost two decades even. It was understandable that they would be a little overwhelmed by the Light Sides' much louder dynamic, even with how loud Remus was by himself.

_____ _

So they went out on adventures one-on-one. It seemed to make the others more comfortable, so Roman was immensely pleased with it.

_____ _

But then two things happened and he stopped asking any of them to join him on his adventures.

_____ _

\---

_____ _

The first thing happened on a wednesday. He had invited Virgil out to the Imagination. Just exploring the town and finding ways to fortify it since Virgil enjoyed knowing he helped in keeping people safe.

_____ _

Roman was right in a way. He had intended to find ways to make it harder for enemies to invade the city. What they ended up doing was finding ways to make living in the town safer.

_____ _

“You should make the sidewalk a little elevated in comparison to the road, the carriages and wagons could run onto the sidewalk and hurt people or damage houses.” was the first suggestion.

_____ _

Then “I know you love your medieval cobblestone aesthetic but can you make it more even? There’s a huge difference in height between them, they’re a tripping hazard and horses could get injured by it too, not to mention wagon wheels.”

_____ _

Of course Roman wrote every tip down in a little notebook. He would make sure to take care of those issues as soon as possible so he could show Virgil next time. Virgil would be happy to know that his concerns had been taken seriously and something had actually been done to prevent the things he worried about happening.

_____ _

They were taking the stairs down to the town square, chatting as they went.

_____ _

“These stairs could use redoing. They’re really worn down and slope downwards, people could slip. Also, dude where are the handrails here?” Virgil complained, interrupting Roman quite abruptly.

_____ _

“Alright. The stairs will be the very first thing I take care of okay, Green Emo?”

_____ _

“I don’t even listen to Green Day, Roman, do your-” he wasn’t able to finish his sentence. He had turned towards Roman a little as he spoke and didn’t notice how strong the slope of the step he took was, foot slipping off and bringing him out of balance.

_____ _

Roman, a few steps behind and above Virgil could only watch in horror as his friend’s hand shot to the side where he expected a handrail to steady him. He reached out, trying to at least grab Virgil’s shirt to help him, but as his fingertips barely brushed the fabric of that familiar hoodie, Roman knew he was too slow.

_____ _

Virgil landed at the bottom of the stairs in a still heap and Roman was next to him within a heartbeat, falling to his knees by the downed side.

_____ _

“Ow, fucking hell.” Virgil was already cursing, trying to get up. Luckily it had only been half a dozen steps, they had been almost down.

_____ _

Roman breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you okay?” his hands were fluttering all over Virgil, unsure whether or not to touch him. His decision was made for him when Virgil hissed in pain and almost fell back down when he put pressure on his arm to push himself up. Roman wrapped his arm across Virgil’s chest to get him up on his knees, from there they got up slowly.

_____ _

“Shit, my arm hurts. And my leg but it’s not as bad.” he groaned, hanging on to Roman to keep his balance.

_____ _

“Okay, okay we can do this. We have to get you back home, sides can’t heal as quickly in the Imagination. Can you walk?”

_____ _

“I think so. I’ll try at least”

_____ _

They hobbled forward a few paces and Roman was acutely aware that Virgil was in pain, something he never wanted to see in the first place and he hoped he would never have to see it again.

_____ _

“This is obviously hurting you even more. Please let me pick you up, that way we can get you back sooner.”

_____ _

Luckily Virgil didn’t put up a fight and let himself be carried home, where Patton fussed over him and Logan made sure to check for broken bones before they could grow together wrong. His wrist was badly sprained and bruised but his ankle wasn’t as badly sprained so Logan supplied Virgil with some ice packs and ordered him to stay settled on the couch for the few hours it would take him to heal.

_____ _

Roman had locked himself up in his room as soon as he knew Virgil would be fine. Sides had very fast healing rates so it wouldn’t take long for Virgil to heal but until then he would be in pain and it was Roman’s fault.

_____ _

It was his fault Virgil got hurt, it was his fault Virgil was in the Imagination to get hurt in the first place! And God damn it, Roman would feel guilty about it to the end of days probably.

_____ _

But he couldn’t just stay in his room and feel sorry for himself. He had to do something!

_____ _

So he went back to the town he had visited with Virgil and with a bitter taste in his mouth, he set about addressing every single issue Virgil had noticed. Roman had seen one person get injured by his careless creation already. He couldn’t bear the weight of the guilt of Virgil getting hurt. He would surely break if anyone else got hurt because of his negligence.

_____ _

\---

_____ _

Roman didn’t end up showing Virgil all those improvements. He didn’t want the other side in there. It was like Roman had turned into Anxiety himself, with how anxious he was about Virgil potentially getting hurt again.

_____ _

He had slowly warmed up to the idea of inviting the others in again when the second incident took place.

_____ _

Roman had kept the other sides out of the Imagination but he couldn’t keep Remus out, since they were both Creativity and both had equal influence over the Imagination.

_____ _

Where he used to isolate his part of the Imagination from Remus’ part, the borders now blended into each other seamlessly and it was not a surprise to see the Duke in the Prince’s city or wandering the castle.

_____ _

Whenever one of them got antsy or needed to free his head to figuratively make space for new ideas they would ride out, sometimes just to enjoy the wind on their faces and each other’s company after years of separation.

_____ _

More often than not though, they went out to look for trouble in the form of a daring quest.

_____ _

Remus was the only one that Roman told about his guilt over Virgil getting hurt. While it felt good to get it off his chest, Remus’ advice didn’t help him much.

_____ _

“Oh why don’t you get him one of the stones he landed on? You could dig it up! Or you could find him the biggest, most venomous spider in the woods! Virgil loves spiders!”

_____ _

Yeah, suffice to say that Roman stopped him before he could get any more ideas that would leave him with nightmares.

_____ _

That idea with the spider sounded kinda good though. Not the biggest or most venomous though. Maybe a tarantula. maybe he could create a docile and snuggly tarantula!

_____ _

Luckily, their quest to battle the Dragon Witch managed to take Roman’s mind off the matter for a while.

_____ _

While the Prince and the Duke had been out of the Imagination, the Dragon Witch had claimed a spot of land and had leveled the town that had occupied that very land until onöy a few days ago.

_____ _

They found the Dragon Witch’s lair soon enough and went in, brave and brazen as they always were in quests like this one.

_____ _

“Dragon Witch! We are here to challenge you! Return the land to the people you stole it from!” Roman declared, sword already drawn as he caught sight of the monstrous figure.

_____ _

“You dare challenge me, little princeling? With your little Duke because you fear coming alone? So be it. I will not give up this land, it is mine and mine alone.” The Dragon Witch was obviously prepared for them, already armed and in armor.

_____ _

Of course Roman couldn’t just back down now. He was a prince after all and it wouldn’t be very princely if he turned his tail now that he had already challenged the Dragon Witch.

_____ _

He saw Remus circle the Witch to the right so he took the left side, that way they’d have the best chance at making this fight a short one.

_____ _

The twins lunged at him as one and Roman quickly lost himself in the rush of adrenaline the fight provided. He didn’t even notice any cuts when he didn’t quite move fast enough to dodge the Dragon Witch’s long claws. What he did notice however, was Remus yelping, a thump and then he saw his twin slumped on the ground by the wall he had been thrown against.

_____ _

Roman jumped back into action, stopping the Dragon Witch from coming after Remus. That way the Duke could take a moment to collect his wits and get back on his feet again.

_____ _

“You good, Remus?” he called over his shoulder when his brother didn’t join him after a moment.

_____ _

Silence on Remus’ part and Roman turned around, using his power over the Imagination to freeze the Dragon Witch in that moment of time. He saw Remus, still slumped on the floor and now that he took a closer look he saw blood at his temple.

_____ _

And Roman felt his blood freeze in his veins just like the Dragon Witch was frozen behind him. “Remus!” he yelled, rushing over to him.

_____ _

Not again. Please not again.

_____ _

He had let it happen again. He had let one of his loved ones get hurt again. 

_____ _

He should have been more careful! He should have made the quest less dangerous! He shouldn’t have asked Remus to come out with him in the first place!

_____ _

Remus didn’t wake up at Roman’s efforts so Roman carefully scooped his twin into his arms so he could take him back to the mindscape or at least back to the castle, away from the Dragon Witch. He could alter the Imagination’s reality at some other point in time to reverse the damage done by him.

_____ _

Sadly he wouldn’t be able to reverse the damage the Dragon Witch had done to Remus. Only time and first aid could help with that.

_____ _

\---

_____ _

Remus woke up a while after they got back to the mindscape and Roman hid himself away in his room just as he had done when he had seen Virgil get hurt.

_____ _

He refused to let anyone back into the Imagination after that. So much so, that the others staged an intervention. To his surprise it was Virgil who came to his room and refused to leave without talking to him.

_____ _

He plastered a smile to his face as he realized that. He opened the door to Virgil, fist raised to knock once again.

_____ _

“Hello, System of a Downer, how may I help you this magnificent day?” he asked, putting as much bravado into it as he could muster.

_____ _

“You can drop the act, Princey. You’ve been so anxious I can feel it down to the bones.” Virgil was frowning at him, looking displeased and annoyed but it did a bad job concealing his concern. Without even waiting for Roman’s response he squeezed past him into his room. 

_____ _

Rude.

_____ _

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, Verge.” he lied. He didn’t like lying to his family but he liked worrying them even less. He did, however, offer the anxious side a seat on his bed.

_____ _

“Don’t lie to me or I’m calling Dee. This is about Remus and me getting hurt on your watch, isn’t it? You felt anxious when I got hurt and it started up again around the time it happened to Re and it’s been getting worse ever since. Patton also thinks you’re mad at him because you haven’t invited him to the Imagination again.”

_____ _

Roman looked down, unable to meet the other’s eyes. He hadn’t even considered that Virgil might be able to feel his anxiety and he had not thought about the possibility of Virgil knowing exactly what was bothering him.

_____ _

“No, it has nothing to do with that at all, what are you talking about? I just had a stroke of genius, the ideas don’t wait for anything!” he tried, still hoping to bring Virgil off the right track.

_____ _

No such luck. Of course, it would figure that the personification of the Fight or Flight Instinct would be too perceptive to be deceived like that.

_____ _

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

_____ _

“Uhm did you miss the part where I’m literally Anxiety? _Don’t worry _is not an option for me. So talk to me. I’m right am i not? This is about us getting hurt and you like- feeling guilty about it? Responsible? I know you too well, I notice when you lie to me.”__

_______ _ _ _

Roman sighed and flopped down next to Virgil on the bed. 

_______ _ _ _

“But it is my fault. You were telling me what was wrong, I should have fixed those issues as soon as you told me about them. I shouldn’t have even made those errors! I should have noticed. And I was the one who dragged Remus out on that quest! I should have done better, paid more attention, made the damned quest safer. I got you both hurt and I refuse to let anyone else get hurt.” he ranted, hoping Virgil would be unable to hear him with how he had buried his face in the blankets. 

_______ _ _ _

Hopefully the fabric would muffle his voice, maybe even swallow him whole so he could avoid more talk about feelings. Ugh.

_______ _ _ _

“I know, Ro. But get this - those were accidents, out of your control. I could’ve gotten hurt even if those stairs had been good, I could have tripped and fallen regardless of the state of the stairs. And have you seen Remus? He’s been raving about how cool that quest of yours was. He had fun and didn’t really care about the injury. It wasn’t even bad, you know head wounds usually look much worse than they actually are.”

_______ _ _ _

No such luck apparently. Now he understood why Logan hated admitting to his feelings so much. Emotions were so nasty and messy when they weren’t good ones.

_______ _ _ _

“Still my fault you got hurt.” he told his blanket petulantly, only to squawk when a sudden weight landed on his back. “Wha- get off of me!”

_______ _ _ _

“Nope, can’t, so sorry. You know how this family apparently solves emotional distress. You’re not getting rid of this living weighted blanket.” Virgil shimmied his shoulders a little as if to accentuate how comfy he was making himself on top of Roman’s back.

_______ _ _ _

Roman put up a token fight but didn’t truly mind. To be honest, it was quite comfortable. Virgil’s weight on top of him was warm and grounding. Comforting.

_______ _ _ _

He hadn’t even noticed how touch starved he had gotten during his self-imposed exile. Having Virgil pressing down on his entire back was a little overwhelming at first but Roman was soon able to relax completely. Patton was right to hug everything out. It did help. A lot.

_______ _ _ _

But Roman would rather burn his sash and melt down his crown than admit it to Virgil. So he just stayed there, silent and comfortable.

_______ _ _ _

He would still blame himself for this family getting hurt, those feelings had quite some time to settle and grow roots but with his family there to help he would be able to get over it.

_______ _ _ _

In a few hours he would follow Virgil downstairs and talk to the others about what had been going on in his head. A lot of talking would follow and some more hugs and some of Remus’ usual comments would help lift the weight off his shoulders a little.

_______ _ _ _

But right then Roman had a different kind of weight on his shoulders, the good kind.

_______ _ _ _

And a little nap wouldn’t hurt right?

_______ _ _ _

Exactly. So Roman stayed put and fell asleep, much to Virgil’s amusement. What could he say? Virgil made a great weighted blanket!

_______ _ _ _

It should be a compliment, really.

_______ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @ashrain5 :)


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